


The Bomb

by Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)



Series: Imagine Tony & Bucky [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Arc Reactor, Humor, M/M, Tony Can't Help Himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 13:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3531773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaqen_hgar/pseuds/Finely%20Honed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <span class="small">Prompt: imagine Tony being kidnapped and the Avengers find him quickly but the bad guys have decided that they were going to loose they rigged Tony's arc reactor to be a bomb. so when they find Tony he's only a little bit battered but the reactor is now a ticking time bomb and in order to stop the countdown they have to take the reactor offline and they all know that Tony needs it to live.</span>
</p><p>Tony woke up slowly, momentarily panicked by not recognizing his surroundings, but the voices arguing nearby were familiar, and somehow soothing, despite their agitation.</p><p>“Hey, I saw his eyes open,” someone said, “Tony? Tony!”</p><p>“M’good, hello, yes?”</p><p>Strong hands slid beneath his shoulders, lifting him up off the ground, and the next thing he knew, a warm body was behind his, arms around his waist. And, gee, that was pretty nice, actually. “We need you to wake up, Tony,” and that was Steve, which meant he was getting cuddled by Captain America. Not a bad way to wake up, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bomb

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted over on [imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com](http://imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com/). Be sure to stop on over and also enjoy the amazing contributions of [Potrix](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Potrix/pseuds/Potrix), [27dragons](http://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons), [InnerCinema](http://archiveofourown.org/users/InnerCinema), and [kamaete](http://kamaete.tumblr.com/)!

Tony woke up slowly, momentarily panicked by not recognizing his surroundings, but the voices arguing nearby were familiar, and somehow soothing, despite their agitation.

“Hey, I saw his eyes open,” someone said, “Tony? Tony!”

“M’good, hello, yes?”

Strong hands slid beneath his shoulders, lifting him up off the ground, and the next thing he knew, a warm body was behind his, arms around his waist. And, gee, that was pretty nice, actually. “We need you to wake up, Tony,” and that was Steve, which meant he was getting cuddled by Captain America. Not a bad way to wake up, really. 

“Hey, buddy,” he slurred. His tongue felt like it was still asleep. “S’up?”

Someone touched his face, patted his cheeks, and he struggled to open his eyes again. Natasha was crouched down, watching him with concern. With a herculean effort, he managed to keep his eyes open and found that Clint, Bruce, and Thor were  _also_ watching him with concern.

“Tony, we need you to stay awake,” Natasha ordered calmly.

“Okay, sure,” he agreed. The only one  _not_ looking at him with concern was Bucky. He was looking down at his boots, arms wrapped tightly around himself. “Yo, whassamatta, Buckaroo?”

Everyone exchanged nervous glances. “Do you remember being kidnapped?” Steve asked.

“Mm, which time?” he asked with a giggle. Bucky raised his head at this, and Tony frowned. The guy looked wrecked. Maybe he needed to start taking this seriously. “Sorry, uh, sure. Had things under control, ‘til someone started blowing their base up with me still in it.”

“Under control?” Bucky snapped, taking a step forward.

“Not now,” Steve snapped. “Tony, the people who kidnapped you—they’ve done something to the reactor. It’s…” Tony opened his mouth, about to clarify, but then Natasha took his hand, and Thor crouched down as well, looking all sincere and concerned, and Bruce was hovering, and Steve was actually  _hugging_  him now. “Tony, it’s been rigged.”

“As in a bomb,” Bucky clarified, nostrils flaring. Everyone turned sharply and glared at him, then refocused on Tony.

“We can’t defuse it,” Clint explained, dropping down from the ceiling. And, wow, Hawkeye even looked devastated. Tony hadn’t known he cared! “And if we take the reactor offline…”

More solemn glances exchanged, everyone hanging their head, and Steve hugging him tighter.

Tony opened his mouth, fully intending to be good, but then Bucky joined the group, crouching down and curling the fingers of his bionic hand around Tony’s ankle, and…

“I’ll die,” he said, finishing the sentence.

Cue the dramatic music!

Tony could blame the concussion, or the tranquilizers that were probably still in his system, but truthfully? It felt good having them all be  _so nice_  to him. They’d been a team for a while now, and they all lived together, but, really, a good bit of the time Tony was convinced he was tolerated, rather than accepted. And, sure, Pepper was  _probably_  right, and he was just imagining things, but still. It was nice. Really nice. Getting hugged by Steve, and seeing plainly for a change that they all cared.

With a sigh, Tony placed his hand over Steve’s. “You should clear the area, Cap. I can try to defuse it, but I want to know you’re all safe, just in case…  _you know_.”

More anguish, a tighter hug, and then he was more or less in an Avengers pile, everyone trying to squeeze a hand, or his leg, whispering encouraging words, and basically showering him with affection. Ahh, and he felt the worm of guilt wriggling inside, but  _affection_ , genuine affection from the team!

“Help me up,” he asked, and Cap got him to his feet, and helped him over to the makeshift workbench he’d been availing himself of before the wall had collapsed, and he’d been knocked out. “There was a mirror somewhere? Right, Clint, hand me that?”

Tony held the mirror up, and frowned to see the numbers slowly ticking down on his chest. “Yeah, okay, guys, time to get a safe distance.”

Another wave of poignant goodbyes, including the world’s most sincere handshake, which became a brotherly hug from Steve, until the only one left was Bucky. Out of all of his friends, Bucky looked the most distraught, and Tony wondered if the incident had triggered something.

“Hey, don’t be sad,” Tony began to say, but then the strangest thing happened. Bucky cupped his face, and pulled him close, and kissed him! It wasn’t a friendly kiss, either, it was an  _I might never get another chance to do this_  kiss, with tongue, and everything.

“Guess I shouldn’t have waited to do that,” Bucky sniffed, pressing another kiss to Tony’s lips, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Completely gobsmacked, Tony brushed them aside, and shook Bucky by the shoulders. “I’ll fix this,” he insisted, giving another little shake. “I promise.”

Bucky kissed him again, rougher this time, then looked at the bomb, and back into Tony’s eyes. “You better,” he growled, then ran after the others.

Tony stood there for a moment, staring at his own reflection. “Asshole,” he said to himself, and with a sigh began dismantling the fake bomb he’d attached to the reactor in order to bluff his way out of captivity. The people holding him had been morons, so he’d expected them to be fooled by the watch components and excessive (and entirely non-threatening) wiring he’d attached everywhere, but maybe he’d done a more convincing job of it than he’d thought if Clint didn’t take one look at the thing and bust up laughing.

Whistling to himself, Tony took his time, and pondered the whole Bucky Barnes kissing thing. That had been  _exceptionally_  nice. He definitely wanted to explore that upon his triumphant return from the jaws of death. Speaking of which—he looked at his watch to see if he’d stalled long enough before laughing, and remembering most of it had been cannibalized for his device.

He gave himself another thirty seconds, then headed out, emerging from the mostly destroyed base with double peace signs raised, and a shout of, “I rule!”

+

They kept being nice to him! It was  _amazing_ , and he didn’t feel guilty at all. Nope, not even a little.

Clint plays Mario Kart with him all the time now.

Natasha gives him scalp rubs! And let’s him play with her hair, which he used to do with Pepper all the time—it is not weird at all to like brushing someone’s hair for them. It’s so nice!

Bucky also lets him play with his hair, but it’s usually under very,  _very_  different circumstances.

Thor threatens to take him to an Asgardian drinking competition. And then does. And it is amazing!

Bruce… well, Bruce has always been nice to him, because Bruce is the king of amazing. He knows Tony loves him, too, so that’s all good.

Being kissed by Bucky in the shower is much, much nicer than being kissed when he thought Tony was going to die. So, maybe there’s a little guilt there. Or a lot.

In the kitchen, for no reason at all, Steve hugs him. 

Definitely not guilt that’s making him feel like the biggest piece of shit in the universe.

+

“I love you,” Bucky says, and Tony can’t take it anymore.

“I was never in any danger!”

Bucky’s face scrunched up. “What’re you talking about?”

Tony flailed his arms. “The base, the kidnappers! They were pathetic, Buck, they couldn’t  _spell_ reactor let alone rig my sweet, sweet tech to blow me to kingdom come. It was me, I made it  _look_  like a bomb and they were all quaking in fear when you guys showed up. I gave a bad ass speech and everything! And then I got knocked out, and then I woke up, and…” he swallowed, and hung his head. “Everyone was being  _so nice_. I didn’t know you guys cared so much.”

Tony looked up, waiting to get punched, but Bucky was just staring. And then he was  _laughing_ , the absolute bastard.

“It’s not funny, I lied to you, and…”

Bucky grabbed him, and kissed him, and then laughed some more. “You’re insane, Tony. Certifiable.”

“But… wait, you’re not mad?”

Bucky shrugged. “I got you out of it, so whatever. But, ah, maybe don’t tell the rest of ‘em. Not everyone has my sense of humor.”

Tony kissed him, and then kissed him again, and said, “Thank you for not hating me,” and kissed him again, and said, “I love you, too.”

Bucky hugged him, and smiled. But a moment later, he tightened his grip on Tony, and when he spoke, he sounded a little scared. “But, seriously, don’t tell the others. Tasha might  _actually_  kill you.”


End file.
